Poles for use in dance exercise have become very popular in recent years. Such poles may be referred to as dance exercise poles or pole dancing poles. Such poles extend between floor and ceiling and generally comprise at least two hollow tubes connected together in series according to the height required. The poles may be erected and dismantled by coupling or decoupling the hollow tubes. To facilitate coupling and decoupling, joints are provided between the tubes. There are presently two forms of joint used, screw joints and insert joints, both of which suffer from drawbacks.
Screw joints are expensive to manufacture, since they require an insert to be welded into the end of a tube and a finishing operation. During use, when a pole becomes warm, the tubes and joint can expand so that the screw threads become locked together and it is difficult to unscrew the joint after use of the pole. Alternatively, the screw joint can be unscrewed during use by anti-clockwise rotation if it is not sufficiently tight.
Insert joints must be smaller than the tubes into which they are inserted, accordingly they are prone to movement within the tubes, which results in flexing of the pole and/or relative rotation of the tubes during use. Furthermore, when a pole becomes warm during use the insert can expand causing the tubes to become locked together and difficult to separate.
The present invention sets out to provide an improved joint, which prevents relative rotation of the tubes, which reduces flexing between the tubes, which can be undone, to allow decoupling of the tubes, when hot, and which is cost effective to produce.